Cover the bottom of a pan with the olive oil.Chop the onion and the garlic in very small pieces, when the oil starts boiling add the onions and garlic.Stir for a few minutes, until the smell gets intense.Add the chicken pieces and stir every 30 seconds.When the chicken is half way done poor some beer and keep stirring. If the beer is added too late, it wont get into the chicken.Take 1/3 or 1/2 of the beans, mash them and add them to the chicken with the last beer portion, keep stirring.

Add the rest of the beans, in one piece, for a few minutes until they get warm.

OK here's an easy dinner to cook - and you can 'rif on it several ways - and I am most emphatically NOT a vegetarian.

In a large pot - put in cold water - salt it til it's like seawater (the only way to season the pasta) put in either high protein/low carb pasta or whole wheat pasta (tastes nice and nutty). Turn on the heat.

Meanwhile ...

Shortcut - buy pre-prepared meatballs - turkey, beef - if you had them frozen - make sure they are thawed.

longcut - make your own (take a bowl, a few pinches of basil, salt, oregano, powdered garlic and one egg to about 1.5 pounds of chopped meat - of whatever you like - mix it - roll it - tada!)

Take a package of frozen: collard greens or mustard greens or turnip greens - either let them thaw overnight in frige - or nuke them for 2-3 minutes - don't have to be fully cooked - just not frozen anymore

Take out your deep saute pan (get one) and heat it - put in olive oil - not just a coating - a few millimetres in height.

Chop several cloves of garlic (I do a lot as a love love love garlic - but do yours to taste)chop a small onionChop fresh basil (or use a tablespoon of dried basil)Some sea salt

Saute the garlic, onion and herbs first til the onions are wiltedThen put in the meat balls - let them brown - when they are brown - I like to put in some wine - white or red - no big deal - let that cook downThen add the nuked or thawed collards - mix it wellTo that add some chicken or beef broth Let this cook down until it thickens a bit - you may need to put in a tad more olive oil

Pour it over the pasta.

While the pasta is going - you cook the 'sauce' - it's about 30 to 40 minutes - easy peasy and tastes good

You can also decide to make a red sauce by throwing in plum tomatoes AFTER you brown the meat - add wine - cook down - add greens - add broth - cook down

Make a big batch and freeze - make your own frozen dinners or lunches - that's what I do - everyone is envious of my lunches at work.

Also - cooking something like a meatloaf or chicken is easy - once you prep it - the oven cooks it - prep time is maybe 15-20 minutes at most.Then - you can either (a) make a salad to go with it; or (b) saute various vegetables; or (c) if you need to 'cheat' - take a package of any frozen vegetable that you like - put it in a microwaveable glass bowl (corningware) - nuke for 2-3 minutes until slightly soft - then add salt, ginger root powder, garlic powder, (or any seasoning you like ) put on a pat of butter and a bit of olive oil - nuke for 2-3 more minutes and you have a nice side vegetable.

Winter squash - really easy

Pre-Heat oven to 400

Cut open squash in half - remove seeds.

Load up with salt and butter (if you like sweet - I don't but many do - add a few generous tablespoons of either brown sugar or maple syrup ) bake about 30 minutes - test with a fork - if the 'meat' fluffs up - its done. Yum!

Prep time - under 10 minutes

Meat Loaf

You can buy a pound each of beef, pork and veal - or if you feel veal is too 'evil' try turkey

Pre-heat oven to 350

Get big glass corningware (oven proof) bowl -

Put in meatCrack two eggs inChop up garlic cloves - use a little if you like a little or a lot if you like a lot - throw inChop op medium onion - throw inSalt it Pepper itAs to seasoning - I do various things - rosemary/paprika/dash of hot chili powder is quite niceSage/Thyme/Tarragon is nice

mix it up well - if you use an oven proof bowl - you can cook it in there - if not - use a bread loaf tin (or two)

You can also:

give it a drink of wine or dark beer before you cook it

slather it with tomato sauce (homemade if you are Betty crocker like me and keep it handy in freezer OR Hunts makes a decent one - yes in a TIN and better than the fancy glass jars and less expensive)

you could also incorporate the tomato sauce within the meatloaf itself

Set time for 30 minutes and check with meat thermometer - depending on oven it'll either be done or need some more time

Best to have a good overview of what you want, before embarking on a new enterprise. Protein--carbs--fats. These are the basics. Get a handle on them, you have a pretty good start. Build your diet around the proper ratio of these, based upon your exercise schedule.

The suggestions look great and I will definitely cook all of that as soon as I can.

For now, things don't always turn out the way I plan... They almost never do.

My mom cooked some stuff that I have to eat first. It looks and tastes awful (looks kind of like southeast asian food -- lots of stir-fried chicken and vegetables tossed together, which all tastes very bland), but I don't want it to go to waste. And also, I have the ingredients for the Thai chicken which I haven't even cooked yet.

Start cooking the rice. The rice and the chana masala will probably both be done at about the same time. If the rice gets done first, just remove it from the heat and let it sit, covered, till ready to serve.

While the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions till translucent. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms (if using) and all the seasonings. Stir well, cover, and simmer on low for 5-7 minutes. Add chickpeas, stir, cover, and simmer 5 minutes more. Serve over rice.